


Matthei

by Pyrofestus



Series: Matthei [1]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Angels, Castiel has a case of ADHD, M/M, OMC - Freeform, Rebel Angels, Small bit of angst, nonslash, there are different hierarchies of angels
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-03
Updated: 2019-09-03
Packaged: 2020-10-06 02:01:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,009
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20499062
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pyrofestus/pseuds/Pyrofestus
Summary: When Sam and Dean get wind of a killer forest they go down to investigate.





	1. Chapter 1

“Cas, get your feathered ass over here,” Dean had barely finished speaking before the familiar sound of fluttering wings coming from directly behind him caused his spine to itch. He whipped around to see the dark haired angel staring back at him. Anyone who didn't know the angel Castiel might have been disturbed by his stony gaze, but the Winchester brothers realized over time that he just had a general lack of expression.

Dean rolled his eyes at the angel. If someone were out to prove the possibility of celestial beings having ADHD, Cas would make a fantastic example.

Startled by Cas' sudden reappearance, Sam's head snapped up. A cold beer was resting in his left hand, the keyboard of his research laptop under his right.

“...Yes?” Castiel asked, a hint of sheepishness barely detectable under his gruff timbre.  
Oblivious to Castiel's embarrassment of being caught wandering around (again), Sam began to present new information about a case. He glanced between the two before clearing his throat theatrically.

“Four people have been killed by- and get this,” he raised an eyebrow at the screen, “-being pummeled by trees. Five witnesses, all saying the same thing.” 

“'Guess you could say we're 'stumped’.”  
Dean smirked, waiting for a reaction. Sam heaved an unimpressed sigh and looked over at Cas, who was avidly watching the ceiling fan.

“Yeah... anyway,” Sam continued,“all the victims were assaulted in the same area of woods. I checked out some information about this particular forest and apparently there's a local legend about it being haunted. No one is allowed to hunt in it because a couple years back, a group of guys went out there to shoot game- a few days later, the entire party was found at the edge of the forest with their eyes burnt out. Sound like something we know?”

“An angel?” Dean wondered aloud.  
“Maybe,” Sam shrugged and took a swig of his drink, “let's take Cas out there and find out who -and what- the killer is.” Sam suggested, gesturing to Castiel.  
The angel nodded, dark brows drawn closely as they conjured up a plan.

\----------------

Sam and Dean hiked in tow behind Castiel, weary from the long drive to Sisters, Oregon. Castiel eyed the trees anxiously as they trekked closer to the heart of the forest. 

“Are we there yet?” Dean groaned childishly, kicking a pronounced tree root sticking up from out of the rich soil. Castiel stopped suddenly in his tracks.

“What's going on?” Dean lowered his voice to a whisper.  
“Quiet,” Cas muttered under his breath, motioning that they stop moving with his hand.  
“I sense something. I think... it's an angel?”

Distracted by the presence of another celestial being, he failed to notice thick tendrils wrapping themselves quietly and delicately around Sam and Dean's ankles like snakes. They were yanked upwards sharply by the roots until both men were tied together, wrapped tight like Egyptian mummies and held upside-down by sentient tree roots. “Cas!” Dean yelped.

Castiel tried to turn around but found himself rooted -literally- to the spot. Behind him the brothers struggled to escape, but their attempts were in vain; The roots held tight.

“Cas! What the hell is going on?” Dean yelled as their wrists were bound with ivy.  
Castiel looked around for the enemy but there was no one around. He felt the pulsing energy of an angel nearby.  
“I don’t know. I can't think of an angel with these capabilit-,”  
“Eant! Who are you? What are you looking for here?” A low voice growled. The voice couldn't be pinpointed- it seemed to originate from everywhere at once. The leaves of the trees bristled almost angrily. 

A man stepped out from the underbrush. He glared at them, his eyes a piercing green with flecks of golden brown, resembling the forestry around them. His honey blond hair was long and unruly, falling past the nape of his neck. He wore a ratty grey t-shirt with the words "Jawsome" scrawled across it in a large blocky font. A picture of a shark had it's mouth open wide underneath the letters, having taken a bite out of the W, S, and O. He wore black, skintight skinny jeans that were covered with grass stains and looked like they had been attacked violently by a giant cheese grater.  
Loosely hugging his feet were what appeared to once have been popular hipster sneakers, now falling apart at the seams and the original color barely visible. Dean thought such a sight might have been hilarious, were his blood not rushing to his head at an alarming rate.

“Matthei? It is Castiel!” Cas gasped in raspy enochian- tongue of the angels- as vicious tree roots scratched at his vessel’s skin and clutched his throat tightly.

“Castiel?” The man squinted at him, bewildered. The pressure of the roots lessened and the leafy tendrils slowly began to recoil from the trio.

Sam and Dean came crashing to the forest floor, a group of shrubs quickly broke out of the dirt, breaking their fall. 

“Agh,” Dean rubbed at his wounded head. The dizzy pair reacted drunkenly, raising their weapons to the man. “Anyone mind telling us what the hell is going on?” Dean scowled, hands gripped tight on an angel-slaying blade directed at Matthei's head.

“Ah, yes. Sam and Dean. I’ve heard a lot about you two. Come. Let's go to my cabin and we will talk.” The blonde put his hands on both brother’s shoulders, and suddenly the entire world around them shifted from thick woods to the inside of a cozy wooden cabin.

“Take a seat. I’ll make us some ‘tea’.” He said the word 'tea' like it was a foreign word he was slowly getting used to and ushered the three men to a wooden table.

\----------------

“My name is Matthei. I was once a Throne Angel in Heaven. I usually stayed in heaven, occasionally coming down for reconnaissance missions. I would love coming down, watching the planet change and grow.” Matthei smiled warmly in memory.  
“Matthei was on duty on Earth when he fell in love with a human,” Cas said quietly, “The higher angels saw this and forbade it, but Matthei continued to see the man anyway.”  
Dean interrupted the angel. “Hold up. What the hell is a ‘Throne Angel’?” His soft lips turned down into a confused frown. The fact the angel was gay totally got lost under the piles of new information.  
“Throne Angels are the protectors of heaven and the messengers of God.” Matthei said a-matter-of-factly. Dean was still confused.  
“And what is that supposed to mean? ‘Messengers of God’?”  
“We deliver prayers to God.”  
“Yes, the higher-ups soon found out I was going against their orders, so they struck my love with a deadly illness…” Matthei said angrily, the lines on his vessel’s forehead deepening. “I stayed by Archie’s side, sun and moon, until he died. I abandoned my role, and Father left Heaven soon after. I built my home here. In an ancient forest. I felt bound to the life here.”

There was a long silence, until Matthei spoke again. “So, I suppose you came here because of the rouge nymphs, correct?”

Sam raised a brow. “Rouge nymphs?” 

“Nymphs are nature spirits. They are usually harmless and listen to me, but a few have gone berserk. They have been corrupted. Turned into Pucks against their will.” The blonde angel growled.

The oldest brother furrowed his brows. “Pucks?”  
Dean snickered.

The angel of nature sighed. “Are you all only questions, boys? Pucks are corrupted nature spirits.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had to do a bit of research to find some Enochian translations.
> 
> "Eant"- Stop or Halt.


	2. Chapter 2

“So, why are they going nuts?” Dean asked casually.  
“I'm not completely sure myself but it started when the humans in their large ... machines… started marking trees and cutting them down. This forest has been here since God created the Earth, along with the nymphs who were designated to care for sacred lands. When the forest is harmed, it caused the nymphs to do all they can to preserve their home, but never like this.” The blonde angel sounded disturbed.  
“Tell us more about the nymphs.” Sam questioned, leaning on the table. “How do you kill them?”  
The question caused Matthei to jerk his head up to look at the tall man. “It's not their fault! Something is controlling them. When I look into them all I can feel is static and misery.” Matthei was perturbed at the thought.  
Castiel slightly frowned. “We understand. What Sam was trying to say is, in case they can not be healed or in a worst case scenario.” Matthei thought for a minute before slightly nodding his head.  
“My blade has angel and nymph killing aspects. The nymph killing aspect is obsidian. Fashion that into a blade and you can kill a nymph.” Matthei stood up and walked to the cabinet and pulled out a drawer. He reached in and brought out a silver Angel’s blade, adorned with black spirals spinning down the blade. The angel sat back down at the table and laid the knife on the wood surface.  
“Do you have anymore anti-nymph kabobs?” The elder Winchester mused. The hazel eyed fallen angel hesitantly nodded.  
“But first I must inform you of their talents.” Matthei leaned on the back of his chair and crossed his arms. “Nymphs can control anything that can perform photosynthesis. So anything plant-like. They can get these plants to set traps for humans, build shelter, or hide parts of the woods from prying eyes.  
“Nymphs are the masters of camouflage. They can take shape, colour, form of anything that you can find naturally in nature.”  
“They must be really hard to play hide and seek with.” Dean smirked, interrupting Matthei.  
“Dean, please.” Castiel groaned.  
“Nymphs are also categorized by which species of tree they were born from. For example, Birch nymphs, Oak Nymphs, Willow Nymphs and so on. They feed off of the sun's rays just like a plant.  
“Not all nymphs live in forests or in nature. Some stray from the tribes and start a life in human cultures.”  
The two brothers nodded, storing the information in their brains. “Well then, let’s get to work.” Dean chirped.  
\-------------  
As the the three hunters talked up a plan, Matthei trailed his attention to the radiating thoughts floating off the nature around him.  
They were in pain. They were being poisoned. A human chemical was harming his forest, his home. If this human chemical was harming the plants, that means that it could trigger the part of the nymph’s soul that protects the forest, corrupting it to the point of no return. His face paled and eyes widened. Castiel seemed to pick up of his horror as he turned towards the older angel.  
“Matthei? Are you alright?” The black haired angel asked, concerned. Dean and Sam looked at Matthei, eyebrows raised. “Do you know what’s happening?”  
The fallen angel slowly nodded, looking up. His face was red with anger, causing his freckles to look darker on his cheeks. “It’s all the humans’ fault. Taking whatever they want with no thought of what it could do to others. Humans just take and spray the Earth with destruction. They trample other species down with their unnecessary machines and contraptions.” Matthei pointed at the city beyond the tree line, breathing heavily with rage.  
The brothers and the angel seemed taken aback by the blond’s rant. Dean looked at Castiel. “Maybe you should handle this..”  
Castiel stepped slowly toward the other angel. “What do you mean, Matthei? Why is it the humans’ fault?”  
“The human chemical that they spray all over the ground. The chemical that causes species to consume poison or go extinct. The chemical they spray on their man-made fruits and vegetables that kills any animal looking for food that happens upon it.” Matthei seethed, baring his teeth.  
“Pesticide? What does it have to do with the nymphs?” Sam inquired.  
“It is feeding on the nymphs’ souls until they are just a deranged husk. It’s the humans’ fault the nymphs are attacking them.”  
“Wait. Pesticide is corrupting their brains?” The smaller hunter exclaimed, bewildered.   
Matthei shook his head. “It’s killing them.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry its so short. The rest of the chapters will probably be this length.


	3. Chapter 3

Matthei placed the cup of water on the stand next to his lover’s bed. Looking at Archie, he stroked the human’s cheek, tears pricking his eyes. Archie looked weaker than yesterday. His once soft, fluffy, brown hair was now falling out and brittle, his smooth tan skin was now paler than snow and clung to his bones. Archie’s blue eyes that shone brighter than the sun, moon, and stars combined, now dull and sunken into his sockets. He was dying and there wasn’t anything the angel could do.  
Matthei kneeled next to the man’s bed, holding his hand as in prayer. Archie’s cough caused his to look up. “Shh.. Don’t cry, love.” The brunette rasped.  
“It’s all my fault. If I had left you alone you wouldn’t be dying. I am so sorry, my ialapereji.” Matthei cried, shaking his head.  
“Matt!” Archie growled. “You are my love. The light in my life. I would die many more times to keep those memories. I love you.” His head relaxed on his pillow, his eyes closing. The blond angel stood up and shook his lover. “No. No…” His voice sounded panic as he started pleading in his mother tongue.

\-------  
“I have to heal this forest before the pesticide reaches the other nymphs. You kill the pucks.” Matthei grabbed three black daggers from his pocket and tossed them to the hunters and their angel. He then knelt down at the base of a large oak tree and placed his hands on the roots. The area around his hands started glowing white, growing brighter and brighter. The other three reluctantly  
His vessel began to shake as he exerted passed his normal magic limit. He groaned, tears pricking at the corners of his hazel eyes. I can’t blame this on the humans. It’s not all of their faults. They are just trying to survive. Like me.  
Matthei felt the forest’s pain clear, slowly. He could feel it sizzling away like a soda turning flat. His body jerked as he stopped his magic; pain and exhaustion rammed into him like a steam train, causing his vessel to fall and deem him temporarily paralyzed. His mind wandered, almost feverishly.  
Matthei thought about his past memories in heaven, fighting against the demons, and sending his rebellious brother to rule hell. He remembered, fondly, fighting alongside his brothers and sisters, but  
~•~  
Matthei woke up, weak and in pain. He still remembered when he first met Archie.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "ialapereji"- star


	4. Chapter 4

It was 1997. Matthei was on Earth with his mission group. They were here to make notes on the humans, to see how far they had progressed. They had split up and spread across Earth into several major cities. Matthei was assigned London. The last time he was on Earth was in 1897, exactly a century ago. 

It was raining that day and around him were tall buildings, very new to his eyes, except for a few buildings, including one which he assumed was Buckingham Palace. On the paths the humans call “streets” were many machines that scuttled around. He understood that they advanced with their modes of transportation. 

The blond angel was ripped from his thoughts when someone tapped his shoulder. He tensed but nonetheless turned to face the human. The human was male, about 5’11, he had fluffy brunette hair that framed his small tan face and blue eyes. He had a button nose and smooth looking white skin. 

“Um sir, I noticed you’ve been standing there for a while and I was wondering if you needed any help.” The man said. For unknown reasons, it caused Matthei’s host heart to flutter. 

Matthei thought as he looked at the brunette man. He was supposed to follow a single human around to notice how they did their way of life. This could be his human. 

“Yes, actually. I was wondering where I could find a cheap inn, for I have no money.” He said with a small smile on his face. His blonde hair stuck to his face. 

“There isn't any near here. You can stay in my flat ‘til it stops raining.”

Matthei thought this action was peculiar since most of the humans he had followed were more cautious  
\-----------------

As the angel followed the brunette human inside. He closed the door behind him. The flat was an average size with Manila coloured walls and wood floors. The entrance was in the kitchen.

All of a sudden the male jumped. “I almost forgot!” He turned to the angel. “I’m Archie Killian. And you are?”

Matthei was wondering if he should be truthful about why he was here. He should. He could not lie. 

“I am Matthei, angel of the Lord. I am here on a mission to take notes on human life. Nice to meet you Mr. Killian.” Matthei expected the boy to freak out but he didn't. ‘Archie’ just smirked. “Sure. Anyways I can fix up the couch so you can sleep. I'll be back with sheets and blankets.”

Archie turned down a hallway before tripping and falling on the floor. 

“Bollocks.” 

Matthei walked over to the brunette and looked at the man’s scrape on his knee. The blonde kneeled down and placed his hand over the scratch. Light glowed from his palm and when he lifted it, to Archie’s amazement, his scratch was gone. He looked up at the tall, freckled blonde with wide eyes. “So you weren’t kidding..”  
\------------

Archie allowed Matthei to stay and take notes on him but Matthei soon started acting weird around the human. 

“So up in heaven, do you have a girlfriend?” Archie asked with a smile on his face. He noticed Matthei’s cheeks turn pink. 

“Angels have no gender. But no. We do not have time or need for ... partners.” Matthei looked away and fiddled with his thumbs. 

The human would occasionally ask random questions about what life was like upstairs like what heaven was like or if there were really singing choirs of angels.


End file.
